


Making Room for Someone New

by nescias



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: But first ending is the official ending, Canon can come catch these fists, Crushes, F/F, Kagami is a lesbian and I cannot be convinced otherwise, Marigami Week 2019, Marinette is bi and I adore her, Possible sequel later, RIP, Sleepovers, i dont know what else to tag here, im soft for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-21 13:37:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21300326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nescias/pseuds/nescias
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir are doing their best, but Hawkmoth and Mayura seem to just keep getting stronger, faster.The battles getting harder and harder has convinced Marinette that they'll need another permanent ally in this fight, but who is she willing to trust? With all of her friendships at school proving to be too volatile in the face of Lila's lies, Marinette might have to look at a different temporary hero for her team: Kagami.(One story told in eight parts for Marigami Week 2019)
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 119
Kudos: 461





	1. Sleepovers

**Author's Note:**

> Haven’t actually seen the finale, but I’m not sticking very closely to canon anyway, so.
> 
> Assume this story is an AU where Marinette is the sole guardian of the miraculous now, but nobody (including Hawkmoth) knows that Ryuuko is Kagami.

Everything hurt. Ladybug was so sick of these akuma battles; even when she and Chat Noir won in the end, the hours of getting slammed into buildings or tossed into cement stuck stubbornly in her bones as phantom aches and pains.

Much as she hated to admit it, they couldn’t keep going like this forever.

Ladybug dropped down into her room and _fwump_ed onto her mattress, too exhausted to do more than mutter, “Spots off.” Tikki zoomed out of her earrings, already chattering away at her chosen, but Marinette closed her eyes and dropped instantly into unconsciousness.

* * *

Thankfully, Marinette woke up to a quiet Saturday. Less thankfully, her busy kwami started buzzing over her the moment she cracked her eyes open. “Marinette! I was so worried when you just dropped like that! Are you okay?”

Marinette yawned once, before smiling for her kwami. “I’m okay, Tikki. Thank you for worrying about me.” Her smile slowly slipped off her face. “Though… I don’t know how much longer Chat Noir and I can do this like we are. The akumas and amoks seem to only be getting stronger, much faster than Chat and I are.”

Tikki nodded. “I know. As the guardian now, however, you can choose heroes of your own! Perhaps it’s time to select another holder?”

Although she had  _known_ that being the guardian meant she could hand out the miraculous as she chose, Marinette had never really been  _aware_ of that fact. There was no Fu to explain her choices to, or to decide whether she could or could not give someone a miraculous. And choosing a permanent holder would be helpful – she could give  it to someone that would be able to fight at their side at a moment’s notice, and who she wouldn’t need to take a break from the action to retrieve.

There would be so many benefits to having a third member of the team, and yet… if she chose poorly, another miraculous holder fighting  _against_ them could easily be the death knell of Ladybug and Chat Noir. She would need to be smart and careful.

What made the decision even harder was how alone she felt making it. She was the sole guardian of the miracle box now. The only people she could discuss her choices with would be Tikki and Chat, but…

Tikki meant well – she really did! – but her advice often turned out to be more detrimental to Marinette than helpful. And Chat was great, but not the most reliable partner. If she asked him, there was a fifte percent chnce he would  _insist_ on equal power in making the decision, which would compromise her abilities as guardian to give the miraculous to who she thought would be the best option, and a fifty percent chance he would be too blasé about the decision.

She shuddered considering the second option – Chat would probably be unbearably fussy about her choosing a male miraculous holder, due to his perception of the “competition for Ladybug’s heart.” And there was always the chance that choosing a female holder would just give Chat another target for his flirting, further distracting all of them from their  _actual jobs_ . It would be even worse if he had any power over the decision, as he would likely be a jealous kitty and choose someone she would never crush on, that he could also flirt with. Which, no offense to her partner, would be one of the worst outcomes beside a partner that turned evil.

No, between Tikki’s overly-trustful history of victim blaming and Chat’s immaturity, there was no one else she could go to for reliable help with this issue. Marinette was alone in making this decision.

Marinette dropped off her bed and went to her desk, pulling out a sheet of paper to start jotting down ideas.  _Alya and Nino?_ Too unpredictable. And, selfishly, after the whole Lila debacle, she was a bit more reluctant to work with them or trust them.  _Adrien?_ Although she liked him and liked the idea of giving him a miraculous, she herself was too much of a loose cannon when he was involved, and it wouldn’t do to have Ladybug any more distracted.  _Chloé?_ No. She had been given so many chances, but had not changed anywhere near enough to prove herself worthy of being a permanent hero.  _Alix? _ She knew that eventually Alix would make a great holder, but she didn’t have enough of a reason to choose Alix for the rabbit yet.

_Kagami?_ Marinette paused.

Kagami was… a great fighter. Strong. Determined. Willing to do whatever it took to win. Clever in her tactics. In so many ways, Kagami would be a great choice… but despite their (very) new friendship, Marinette just didn’t have enough of a reason to trust her with such a large power yet. But if  Marinette  _could_ trust her, Kagami could prove an invaluable asset to the team.

Torn, Marinette circled her name a few times in thick lines. Perhaps it was time to stop sitting around thinking, and start acting?

Impulsively, Marinette spun her chair over to where her phone was resting.

M: Hey Kagami

M: I was wondering if you’d want to do a sleepover sometime soon?

M: No pressure  though :)

“Marinette,” Tikki gasped, looking at her paper. “You already crossed of Alya and Nino as heroes? But they have the most experience!”

“I know, Tikki, but after all the drama recently… I just don’t know how much I trus them to fight by my side.”

Tikki frowned in disapproval, her little antannae tilting forward despondently. “ Marinette. As their friend, you shouldn’t hold such a silly little mistake against them. We both know Lila is a very convincing liar.”

Marinette was so tired of this kind of fight – the ones that go in circles forever without ever really getting anywhere. Tikki would never change her mind, because forgiveness and generosity were just the little bug’s nature. Once, Marinette would even have agreed with her, hava apologized to her kwami and to her classmates. But recently, Marinette was just so _ tired._ She didn’t have the energy to keep saying sorry after everyone _ else_ abandoned her without any apology for dismissing her so easily.

“Tikki, I can’t work with them. I _ won’t_ . Can we drop this?”

Tikki’s little frown only deepened further. “Marinette, I expect better of you. As Ladybug, it’s your job to reach out to others and spread friendship. Right now, you’re acting more like a moody teen than a good Ladybug.”

“Well maybe that’s because I _ am_ a teen! I should be _ allowed_ to be a teenager! Maybe… maybe I dodn’t want to be Ladybug all the time!”

When she opened her eyes, there was nobody there. “Tikki? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my temper.” But there was no response; just Marinette, talking to herself alone in her bedroom.

She took off the earrings, noticing immediately the liveless sheen of a deactivated mmiraculous. She didn’t think her frustration was enough to temporarily stop the bond again, like it had been that second day, but…

_Perhaps it’s for the best,_ Marinette thought, After all, this would allow both her and Tikki plent of time to cool off so they could come back to the argument calmer and more rationally later. She tucked the earrings back into their special box, and tucked them away in the corner of her room – hidden and protected from any prying eyes, but still close enough to the surface of the collection of fabric scraps that she could quickly retrieve the ladybug miraculous when Hawkmoth struck again.

Just as she was sitting back down, preparing to relax and unwind from the stress of arguing with her kwami (again), a chime came from Marinette’s phone.

K: Yes. Mother says tonight is my least busy night.  What time should I come over?

Marinette almost threw her phone in her haste to rush downstairs. At the counter, her maman was boxing up an order for a customer.

“Maman! Can I have Kagami over for a sleepover tonight?”

“You know your friends are always welcome here, dear,” Sabine said as she passed the boxes of pastries over. She turned to smile at her daughter. “I’m glad you’re inviting a friend tonight; the apartment’s been too quiet since Alya’s stopped coming over.”

A touch of pink bloomed in Mariette’s cheeks under her mother’s attention. “Thank you maman! This will be great!”

Marinette’s papa poked his head out of their kitchens. “Did I hear that my little girl was going to be having a sleepover tonight?” He came out into the main area, smiling as he crushed his little girl in a floury hug. “I’ll get started on extra pastries!”

As her dad disappeared into the back, Marinette pressed one last kiss to her maman’s cheek before disappearing back upstairs into her room.

M: Does  19h work for you?

* * *

Marinette heard her maman’s voice through the floorboards saying, “her room’s just up that way, dear.”

She took a calming breath. Priority one: determine whether or not Kagami would make a good member of the team. Priority two: make sure her friend had a fun night.

She pressed her nice shirt back into place just as Kagami knocked. “Come in!”

A wide-eyed Kagami entered the room, blinking dazedly at the abundance of pink and various fabrics throughout the space. Marinette noted that Kagami still wore her regular outfit – the stylish white blazer over the tie and plaid skirt – but that now she had a small plain black duffel bag with her, presumably filled with pajamas and toiletries.

“Kagami! Hi!” Marinette did her best to smile and look welcoming to her newest friends, fighting the habit of running up to her and hugging like she would have done with most of her other friends – Kagami seemed very protective of her personal space, after all.

Kagami’s face didn’t twitch into a smile (which perhaps was for the best, given how deeply unsettling her fake smiles could be), but did relax into a more pleasant expression. Seeing how her eyes softened and the corners of her mouth relaxed made Marinette suddenly feel wrong-footed, like she did during the friendship competition. It seemed like being invited to a sleepover mattered a lot more to Kagami than she had expected.

“Marinette. It is a pleasure, as always, to see you. Thank you for the invitation.”

Marinette laughed, stepping back a bit to invite her friend in all the way. “It’s no trouble! Thank  _you_ for agreeing on such short notice!”

Kagami set her bag down next to one of the makeshift blanket-beds on the floor, glancing curiously over to the other. “You already have a bed in here – why are there two makeshift beds? Will there be another person coming?” Her voice had an odd note to it that Marinette struggled to decipher.

“No, just you and me. I thought we might sleep closer together though, so we can hang out until we fall asleep? If that’s fine with you, that is! I wasn’’t trying to make you uncomforatble – obviously the bed is for the sole purpose of making you  _comfortable – _ but I didn’t mean to presume that you wanted me to-”

“ _Marinette_ . The two beds seems like a good idea.” To Marinette’s surprise, Kagami’s mouth had twitched into a small smile at her rambling, one of the first real smiles Marinette had gotten to see from her. It suited her, making her seem lest of the flawless, imposing fencer and more of an awkward yet kind rich kid.

This girl, the one that smiled at Marinette’s rambling and seemed to really enjoy her company, was the type of person Marinette wanted to fig ht beside. Of course Marinette needed to be very careful who she passed the miraculous out to, but she also needed to trust her instincts – and the longer she spent with Kagami, the more her gut seemed willing to trust the girl.

Marinette’s thought process was cut short as her father stormed upstairs, proudly presenting a tray of fresh assorted baked goods. “Snacks for my little girl’s sleepover!” he called, descending back downstairs.

Kagami wandered over to look at the offerings, before tentatively taking one croissant. Marinette grabbed one as well.

Marinette cleared her throat awkwardly. “Would you like to watch a movie, then? We could set lay next to each other on the bed to watch, and then climb down here to sleep?”

“That sounds acceptable to me Marinette. You are the one with actual sleepover experience.”

Marinette looked at her in surprise, though Kagami was entirely nonchalant as though she had said nothing strange. “You’ve  _never_ had a sleepover at someone’s house?”

“No. Before this year, Mother did not allow me time with ‘friends.’”

Marinette fought valiantly against the urge to crush her in a hug, but in the end it was a losing battle. “May I please hug you?” she asked, wide doe eyes on display.

Once she got a slight nod from Kagami, she leaned in and pressed her into a full hug. Kagami was stiff and unsure at first, but gradually melted into the embrace, tucking herself against Marinette and locking her arms around her just as tightly. They stood like that for a few moments before Marinette gently pulled away. It seemed like Kagami got warm a bit easily, since her face was already pink from just a bit of shared body heat – Marinette made the mental note to reduce the pile of blankets on Kagami’s temporary bed by a sheet or two so that the other girl wouldn’t be uncomfortable or overheat during the night.

Both girls got ready for bed, brushing their teeth, dressing in pajamas, and bringing all of the uneaten pastries downstairs. They both climbed together into Marinette’s loft bed, and she wrapped them up in the Marinette-brand Patent Pending Friendship Burrito, with both of them being side by side in a big fuzzy blanket, with pillows under them to lean against, while Marinette’s tablet played the movie.

As the movie began to play, Marinette looked over at her Friendship Burrito companion. Kagami seemed enraptured with the movie, her wide dark eyes reflecting the screen and giving her whole face the impression of a soft glow, like the moon reflecting light from the sun.

Marinette was glad that she had done this sleepover today. Kagami was generally an intensely private person, so the extra time didn’t really let hear learn anything about her that Marinette didn’t already know – but it was one of the first times in a while she had hung out with Kagami and  _just_ Kagami without Adrien or Luka to distract her, and it only reaffirmed her positive impressions of the girl. It was clear that Kagami was a good fighter given her skill in fencing and her prowess when wielding the dragon miraculous. However, if Marinette’s gut instinct was to be believed (and so far it had very, very rarely led her astray), Kagami’s actions today during the sleepover had only cemented her trustworthiness as a potential miraculous holder.

Although still somewhat awkward, Kagami seemed earnest and open to making friends. Furthermore, she didn’t seem like she was the type of person to make trouble for no reason – there has been ample opportunity that night to bring up Adrien if Kagami had wanted to warn her off him or something similar, but Kagami seemed willing to focus on Marinette’s company rather than their shared crush, which Marinette could appreciate.

Yes, all together tonight had been a success – Marinette was fairly confident in her assessment of Kagami as a good miraculous holder and potentially-permanent partner for her and Chat Noir. Now she just needed to decide how to give the miraculous to Kagami, and whether the dragon would still be the best choice for her.  


Marinette came out of her thoughts at the sound of a contented exhale next to her. Beside her, Kagami was already asleep, curled into Marinette inside the blanket burrito. Marinette had never seen her face so relaxed and contented, and against all logic, felt her heart swell with the need to protect Kagami: from Marinette’s own past cruelty, from all the other students who so wrongly called her the “ice queen,” and from the mother who had controlled so much of Kagami’s life.

Marinette sneaked one arm out of the blanket to shut off the movie before pulling Kagami closer and letting herself drift off to sleep. Hawkmoth, the miraculouses, Adrien – all of their problems could be dealt with tomorrow morning. For now she was content to enjoy the warmth of Kagami’s presence and let herself drift off to sleep.


	2. Outfit Swap

Kagami woke up warm, and happier than she remembered being in a very long time. Though on a regular day she had no issue immediately rolling out of bed to get dressed, today she just snuggled further into the warmth with a contented hum.

Moments later, her bed shifted beneath her, and Kagami’s eyes snapped open in surprise. She was met with the sight of a sleep-mussed Marinette, hair askew and mouth slightly open as she breathed evenly. Kagami herself was against Marinette’s side, one leg slung across hers and an arm pulling Marinette close enough to be as much under her as beside her.

Though she prided herself on her control over her emotions, since there was no one (conscious) around to judge her, Kagami allowed herself a moment of being completely flustered at the position she found herself in. Was this normal for sleepovers? She presumed not, given that Marinette had set them up two separate beds to sleep in. Kagami must have fallen asleep during the movie and trapped Marinette there with her.

But if that was true, that meant Marinette was stuck there more out of a reluctance to wake her than as a choice. Would Marinette be angry? Given her past actions, it was unlikely that she would yell at or be deliberately cruel to Kagami, but making your host uncomfortable was surely the fastest way to ensure no further invitations. And despite herself, Kagami had really enjoyed the chance to spend more time with Marinette. She would be quite disappointed to never be given the opportunity again.

Kagami shifted a bit to try and create an opening to slip out of the blanket that tied them together, but her shifting seemed only to rouse Marinette slightly. Marinette rolled toward her, flipping their positions and burying her face in Kagami’s neck.

Kagami felt as though her face was on fire. She had always scoffed at such depictions, especially in the context of romance – after all, she had never stooped so low as to become a blushing mess around Adrien, and he was the one she chose to crush on.

But now, every trite expression Kagami had dismissed haunted her. The blood rushed to her face, her heart pounded much more furiously than normal in her chest, and her breath caught in her throat. Having Marinette close was more ruinous to Kagami’s  composure than any amount of exposure to her crush – but of course, that was silly. Kagami was crushing on Adrien. The se aberrant reactions would dissipate once she fully finished waking up and moved somewhere cooler.

Unable to free herself from Marinette pinning her, Kagami decided that the only way to get out would probably be to swallow her pride and wake Marinette. Though this would make their positions obvious to Marinette and probably cause her to avoid Kagami  out of discomfort , it was still preferable to her waking up to a wide-awake Kagami and wondering how long  she had been awake, leaving them in this position without any effort to wake he r sleeping friend .

Mind set, Kagami reached up to gently jostle her sholder. “Marinette. Wake up.” Marinette just mumbled something sleepily an buried her face further into the crook of Kagami’s neck, which was _entirely unhelpful_. Kagami tried again, to the same effect.

Giving up on the subtle approach, Kagami shook her hard enough to startle the girl awake. “Ah! I’m up, I’m up!” Marinette flailed in her panic to stand, which only further entangled them in the thick blanket. Kagami’s eyes met wide blue ones, each pausing to take in the other before Marinette’s face began to take on a pretty pink flush. “Sorry Kagami, I guess we must have fallen asleep after the movie!” She began to disengage herself from the blanket burrito, freeing both of them. Illogically, Kagami missed the closeness.

Kagami shook her head in response, “It was my fault, as I was the one to fall asleep first.” Internally,  she was just glad that Marinette did not seem too upset; though she knew herself capable of living without friends, something about the idea had become… strongly distasteful since getting the chance to actually interact with others her age.

Marinette just smiled at her. “I think we were both a bit too tired last night. How about I go check downstairs with my parents and see what we’re doing for breakfast? You can get ready up here while I’m gone.”

At a nod from Kagami, Marinette left for the downstairs. Kagami showered quickly, noting the different soaps Marinette kept haphazardly piled at one corner of the tub. Some part of her expected them to be scented “warm vanilla sugar” or something similar, but it seems like Marinette’s scent came entirely from living in and above the bakery as opposed to artificial scents – the bottles ranged from “coffee” to “lavender” to “original fresh,” but nothing that Kagami would instinctually associate with the baker’s daughter.

After getting clean, Kagami stepped out and dried off. There seemed to be some sort of commotion downstairs. If she had to bet, she would place the shrill screeching as Chloé’s, to absolutely no one’s surprise.  She dressed back in a clean outfit – a black button-up and jeans that she had packed for herself earlier, simple and yet classic. The entire building shook violently, and her eyes widened: an akuma.

The violent roar of an enraged akuma came from downstairs. Before she could do anything else, another tremor shook the building.  Kagami toppled over into a corner of the room, sending a flurry of fabric scraps and random object tumbling across the floor. She bent to try and sweep the scaps at her feet bck into a haphazard pile, so as not to make a mess of Marinette’s space. Just as she lifted a large piece of black felt, her eye caught on what was underneath – a small black box with red engraving that had popped open, spilling two smooth earrings onto the floor. The back of her neck prickled with familiarity, and Kagami felt miles away from herself, watching as if from a distance as her hand reached out to scoop up the dark earrings.

There was a bright flash of light, and before her floated a kwami: its colors were similar to Longg’s, but while Longg was unmistakably modeled after a dragon, this little creature was a…

“Ladybug,” she breathed out in a trance. The little ladybug kwami floated there in shock, clearly unsure of what to do. At that moment, the entire building rattled again, which seemed to break the kwami out of its daze.

“Kagami. You  _cannot_ tell anyone that you saw me.”

“I will not, I swear it.”

The bug seemed dubious, but left the topic for now and looked around the room. “Where is Marinette?”

Kagami blinked. This kwami was in Marinette’s room. It came from magical earrings. And once released, its first instinct was to look for Marinette. So many puzzle pieces she didn’t know she had been holding suddenly slotted perfectly into place.

While she would certainly revisit this whole revalation later, now wasn’t the time or place. She locked eyes with the little creature, and said, “Marinette went downstairs a little while ago, perhaps twenty minutes or so, and was there when the akuma happened. Should I take the earrings to her?”

Without responding, the kwami phased down through the floorboards, leaving Kagami alone in the intermittently rattling room by herself, staring down at the jewelry in her hands and reconsidering her whole life. If Marinette was Ladybug, that meant that the first day they really met each other, Marinette had been willing to entrust her with Longg. Even in spite of Marinette’s own previously negative feelings toward her and her friend’s disparaging comments, she had been willing to give Kagami a chance.

Kagami had not realized until now, either, just how  _selfless_ Marinette was. She already knew that Marinette donated much (in her own opinion, too much) of her free time for the good of others, mending their clothes, building them projects, and baking them treat. Once her time superheroing was factored into the equation, it was clear Marinette gave so  _much_ of herself, that Kagami was surprised there was anything left at all.

They would have to discuss this – Kagami would need to apologize for her discovery, and thank Marinette for the hundred ways she had been wonderful. And after that, Kagami would et Marinette to  _eat_ and  _sleep_ and take a break once in a while, protecting Marinette from any who would take advantage of such a kind person.

Perhaps Marinette wouldn’t want to be friends with Kagami after today, since she had already screwed up so much and it was only the morning. But Kagami swore to herself that she would do her best to support Marinette, so matter in what capacity she was allowed to do so.

The kwami phased back through the floor. Objectively, Kagami was aware that the little god was the same color as before, but somehow she still got the impression of sickly paleness from the kwami. Before she could say a word, it said, “We don’t have much time. The akuma took Marinette, who I know you know is Ladybug, and we need someone out there to fight it with Chat.”

“Where should I take you to find a new holder?”

It stared at her gravely. “Kagami, we don’t have time for that. I need you to put the earrings on. Your transformation phrase is ‘Tikki, spots on.’ Understand?”

Kagami had officially become unable to process any of what was happening, but somehow she managed to nod and slip the arrings on. She stood to go to Marinette’s full body mirror, the kwami – Tikki, she said – trailing behind anxiously.

Locking eyes with herself, Kagami slipped in to her focused mindspace. Mother had drilled the importance of a calm mind, and had taught her from a young age how to push aside emotion or pain in the pursuit of victory. Summoning steely determination, Kagami said, “Tikki, spots on.”

When the glow of magic faded away, she was left with the tingling feeling of strength and grace and power and magic that she remembered from her transformation with Longg. She was left in a thin but flexable black bottom layer to her suit, with red polka-dotted armor layered on top in a clear facsimile of a ladybug’s coloring.

Kagami looked at her spots in the mirror – Ladybug’s spots, Marinette’s spots, odd and out of place on a clear newcomer such as herself – and cracked a cold smile.

Even if this was her last day of friendship with Marinette, she still cared for her friend deeply… and if that akuma had hurt her in any way, there would be  _hell to pay.  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I know where this is going?  
In theory.
> 
> Is the story progressing as planned?  
Only vaguely.


	3. Protective

Kagami wasted no more time with her reflection, instead climbing up through the skylight and onto Marinette’s roof, closing the trapdoor behind her. From this height, she could see the whole mess laid out below her, and why Tikki wouldn’t have wanted her to try and get the earrings to Marinette.

The entire street was destroyed, with cars tilted on their sides, craters punched into the ground, and ugly wounds in the surrounding buildings. The bakery itself had been violently gouged out, with broken pieces of its interior spread out over the sidewalk; it was a wonder that all she had felt was violent shaking, when the building itself may have collapsed under the force of the akuma’s fury.

The area was populated with some other people, but they seemed to be bent on destroying as much as possible. When Kagami looked closer, she could see that their eyes were an eerie, glowing white. It was clear that these people were under the akuma’s control, but not why the akuma was so hellbent on needless destruction.

A clink of metal hit the roof behind her, and she turned around in time to watch Chat dropping gracefully to Marinette’s roof. It was almost amusing to watch his face as it changed from exaggeratedly loving to confused to hostile as he realized that she was not Ladybug.

“Who are you?” he demanded, and Kagami could almost imagine the fur on the back of his neck bristling in indignation.

“Ladybug is unable to come to this fight; I came in her stead.”

“My Lady has _never_ missed a fight. You’re lying to me! What kind of akuma are you?” He seemed ready to leap at her at a moment’s notice, muscles bunched in anticipation and tail twitching quietly.

She was sure that the whole scene was meant to be intimidating to her, but in reality it had quite the opposite effect. If he couldn’t even summon the critical thinking required that she was holding the real miraculous, he wasn’t quite clever enough to be a threat. For one, if she were a fake that could wield illusions, trying to imitate the miraculous without just committing and making herself Ladybug would be quite silly of her, as it would draw unnecessary attention from the public and other holders. For another, any attempt to claim having a fake ladybug miraculous would fall to pieces the moment Ladybug herself came on the scene, making the whole charade too short lived to be any good.

And if she did manage to get the real ladybug out of the way to pull of this fake – then there would be no reason to fake, would there? She would have the real jewelry.

Instead of making a long-winded argument to the hissing cat-boy in front of her, she decided to go with the obvious: “there is already an akuma about, and no sign of Scarlet Moth. I am going to go try and take down that akuma. Please feel free to join me when you get over your little fit.”

She jumped off to the neighboring roof, then again, then again, letting him yowl with fury behind her. Presumably it would be faster to travel using the yo-yo, but she did not trust her own skill with the weapon well enough to attempt it.

She could see the monster in the distance, coming closer: it was a bulky monstrosity, with the shape of the body vaguely reminiscent of a gorilla, with the broad, muscled shoulders hunched to allow strong arms to reach the ground as assistance in running. The creature itself was white, with a collage of what seemed to be shattered bits of porcelain covring its skin, acting s decoration and armor in one.

Broken porcelain, yelling downstairs, Chloé; Kagami was willing to bet that the poor man had some dish he was using broken by a raging Chloé while he was downstairs in the bakery. He seemed to be intent on destroying as much of the city as he could, and convincing others to do the same. Just as she thought that, the monster reached up to grab a shard of porcelain from one shoulder, and launched it at a man who was trying to run away from the commotion. Rather than it slicing into his skin as Kagami expected, it instead seemed to liquify and absorb into him. After a moment of unnatural stillness, he lifted his head and ran at the nearby mailbox, smashing into it with more strength than it seemed he should have.

The akuma did seem to be destroying the street and controlling more people as he went, but to Kagami it almost looked like he was  _chasing_ something: he was moving in a direct path toward a bobbing shape in front of him and tossing porcelain every so often that always seemed to just barely miss.

She jumped closer to the action and felt her heart stop for a moment at what she saw.

That was  _Marinette_ down there, bobbing and weaving and dodging the akuma! Her every action seemed only to drive it further into a rage, and it was only a matter of time before it caught her.

Kagami pushed off, ready to leap in and pull Marinette to safety – and hopefully somewhere far enough away from prying eyes that she could pass the ladybug miraculous back to its rightful holder – when a hand clutching her forearm stoped her, janking back against her momentum and pinning her in place. She turned back to see Chat Noir, fire in his eyes and a snarl on his mouth. That idiot was grabbing her arm, preventing her from reaching Marinette; he better have a  _very good reason_ for leaving Marinette in danger a second longer than necessary.

To her anger, he did not. “You can’t run off like that! I’m the real hero here, so you better follow my direction, or else stay out of the way!”

Kagami was so sick of this stuck-up kitty and his disregard for the literal monster raging behind her. She was sure that at any other moment, she might be willing to think through the issue and debate more rationally; after all, it was true that he was the hero with experience here, and had no particular reason to trust her.

But right now, every part of her brain was focused on the fact that  _Marinette was in danger, the akuma is after Marinette and she could do nothing to help as long as Chat Noir kept her pinned here._

Without even stopping to think, she pulled to the surface the piece of herself that Mother had trained rigorously in self-defense since she was a child. She twisted the arm that he was grabbing, pulling back and breaking herself free, while the heel of her other palm jabbed into his chest. Chat dropped, winded, as she turned and rushed toward the akuma.

Perhaps some part of her, later, would regret attacking one of the heroes of Paris while she was the interloper on his usual duties, but for now she was wholly focused on her mission.

She ran parallel to Marinette’s path, catching up to her and the monster on rooftop. Once she was close enough, she pulled the yo-yo from her hip.  _Please, _ she thought,  _please._ Kagami released the spotted toy at the ledge of a nearby tall tower, feeling it wrap around and lock tight. She swung through, grabbing Marinette who froze with a small  _eep_ as she was pulled to the side.

Another misfired piece of porcelain shattered where they had been just moments before, and the akuma turned to follow them.

Kagami looked down at the startled girl pressed to her side, and pulled t he yo-yo back to her hip. Once her other hand was free, she slipped it under Marinette’s legs to lift her in a bridle cary, cradling her friend close as she jumped back on to the rooftops. “Don’t worry, Marinette. I swear I will protect you,” she promised to the girl in her arms.

Marinette stared up at her with wide eyes as she bounded over rooftops, leaving the akuma behind them. Kagami looked back one last time, noting Chat Noir trying to catch up but struggling to find them. She chose a quiet side ally and dropped them in, slowly letting down Marinette’s feet once they were safely on the ground and sheltered in the shadow of a tall brick wall.

Marinette just stared at her blankly, locked in place. “...Kagami?”

“Spots off.” The bright light washed down over her, and the god of creation poured back out into reality. For a brief moment, the feeling of mortality, humanity,  _weakness_ seeping back into her bones caused a craving for the rush of being transformed again. But she knew that the miraculous did not belong to her, and she could never begrudge its real owner that power in the name of her own selfishness.

Marinette still seemed too shocked to function, so Kagami reached up to take the earrings out of her own ears. She pressed them into the palm of her hand for just a moment, savoring the feel of power thrumming between her fingertips. She took Marinette’s hand and pressed the earrings into them. “I am sorry for using these without your permission, Marinette, but I had to keep you safe.”

That sentence seemed to snap Marinette out of her daze. Kagami would be pleased with that fact, except that it seemed to launch the girl into a spiral of panic instead, turning her somehow even paler and causing her to shake slightly. Kagami instinctively put a hand on her shoulder, whether to calm her or try to slow the shaking she didn’t know.

“You were Ladybug. So you used the earrings which means you know Tikki – and you gave the earrings to me, you wouldn’t do that unless you knew I was Ladybug – and you must have found the earrings in my  _room_ I’m such an _ idiot_ someone will know my  _identity_ -”

“Marinette.” Kagami put as much strength into her eyes as possible, staring into Marinette’s to make her point as clear as she could. “The akuma can wait a few minutes. We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seems like chapter 5 (fencing) should be the longest of the 8, given my current outline... but I'm writing pretty much everything the day of, so I guess we'll see.


	4. Comfort

“Marinette. The akuma can wait a few minutes. We need to talk.”

Marinette could feel what little blood was left in her face quickly draining out. Even though she thought Kagami was very trustworthy, and had even been planning on making her a permanent miraculous holder alongside herself and Chat Noir, she didn’t want her identity revealed to _anyone_ until _after _Hawkmoth was safely locked behind bars.

And this weekend, she had screwed up so many times – fighting with Tikki, leaving the earrings behind, failing to stop M. Clerc from getting akumatized, almost being caught by the akuma’s powers until Kagami jumped in to protect her – she didn’t know how anyone though she would be a worth guardian. She had made so, so many dumb errors.

“Kagami, I swear I can explain -”

“Marinette. Thank you.”

Her frantic attempts at somehow getting out of admitting to being Ladybug were cut off by the raw sincerity in Kagami’s voice. Kagami’s whole demeanor was soft, with smiling eyes and an upward tilt to her mouth. Marinette found herself breathless in the face of such warmth from someone she had once assumed to be so cold.

“I didn’t have friends before you,” Kagami continued, “not really. The closest I had was Adrien, and we were more pushed together by out families and extracurriculars rather than any choice. When you solved the friendship puzzles with me, when we went to orange juice together, when you continued making the effort to be my friend even though no one was making you and your friends were even trying to convince you that you would be better off without me, you showed me what true friendship was.”

Kagami tilted her face off to one side slightly, one of the few times Marinette had seen her allow herself to be honest with her feelings. Marinette’s felt a warm buzz of feeling rise in her at the sight of Kagami being willing to show vulnerability around her – being trusted with the weaknesses of such a strong person was one of the greatest honors she had ever received.

“And knowing that you’re Ladybug,” Kagami continued, “knowing that you’re the one who trusted me to fight alongside you on our very first day of real friendship-”

She swallowed, and lifted her eyes back to Marinette’s. “Knowing that you put that trust in me is the best gift I’ve ever been given. So thank you, Marinette.”

This time, Kagami was the one to initiate the hug, awkwardly drawing Marinette closer.

When Marinette reciprocated, pulling Kagami even tighter and resting her face against Kagami’s shoulder, Kagami practically melted against her.

Although she was still unsure how to go from here, given her mistakes and the unprecedented fact that _someone else knew she was Ladybug_, Marinette couldn’t help but be comforted by Kagami’s words. There was no going back to how it had been before, so maybe Marinette needed to focus on how to make the best out of the present moment – and if her mistakes had finally allowed her and Kagami to become close friends, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find that silver lining.

After savoring the embrace for one last moment, Marinette pulled away, hands falling to hold Kagami’s between them. She could feel herself tearing up slightly. “Thank you, Kagami. You didn’t know how much I needed to hear that.”

Although she felt like her words were inadequate in the face of Kagami’s heartfelt admission, it brought a small smile to the other girl’s face. However, it was still clear that Kagami was carrying some other weight, because Marinette watched as the tension seeped back into her shoulders.

“I would… understand,” Kagami began haltingly, “if you did not want to be friends after today, though. I sincerely apologize for intruding on your secret and using your miraculous without your consent.”

“Kagami, no. Of _course_ we’ll still be friends. I would have been taken down from the akuma for sure if you hadn’t swooped in.”

Tikki floated up into the conversation, startling Kagami who had all but forgotten about her presence.

“And you only used the miraculous once I gave permission, and passed the earrings back to the true holder as soon as possible,” Tikki piped in. “That’s a lot more than most people would do, when given the chance to use one of the two most powerful magical artifacts in this part of the world!”

Kagami warmed at the praise.

“Much as I’d love to stay and continue talking,” Marinette said reluctantly, “I really should meet up with Chat to take down that akuma.”

Kagami winced at his name. “He might… not be too happy right now. When he tried to hold me back from chasing after you, I _may_ have slammed him in the chest to daze him for long enough to get away.”

Although some part of Marinette was upset at the thought of her partner hurt in any way, she couldn’t help but breat out into laughter. Chat Noir could be so arrogant and prideful, and the thought of him trying to hold Kagami back from her goal and being taken out in one hit was unfairly funny to her. Kagami was on a different level entirely; her kitty never even stood a chance against a serious, focused fighter.

Reluctantly, Marinette squeezed Kagami’s hands one last time before releasing them. “Tikki, spots on.” The familiar wave of makic bubbled over the surface of her skin, spilling raw strength into every corner of her being. Ladybug opened her eyes to an awestruck Kagami, gaze wide and mouth slightly ajar in wonder. Giddling, Ladybug lifted her hand to Kagami’s jaw and lightly pushed her mouth closed.

Acting entirely on instinct, Ladybug leaned in to press a light kiss to her friend’s cheek. “See you after the battle’s over, Kagami,” she said before jumping off.

* * *

As soon as she was a couple buildings away and far out of sight, Ladybug sat against a chimney to give herself a moment to process. Even though she had done nothing improper between friends, her face was a furious red.

Hopefully Kagami didn’t think she was weird! Well, from just generally being around her (and the past day) Kagami was probably aware that she was a Walking Disaster, but that kiss was a bit far even for her. She was usually much more respectful of her more reserved friends’ personal space. This one lapse didn’t mean anything, she was just so happy to have Kagami on her side as a confidante and partner that she got swept up in the moment. Obviously she knew that Kagami didn’t want her intruding into her personal space like that.

(Little did she know that just a few blocks away, Kagami had one hand pressed to a rosy cheek, grinning like a lunatic. For the first time in a long time, Kagami showed absolutely no regard for who may see her broadcasting her emotions so clearly; she stumbled out of the alley and back toward the bakery with palpable glee radiating off of her.)

Ladybug knew that there were so many things she would need to sort out – apologizing for her overstep, deciding what Kagami’s new knowledge would mean for choosing her as a permanent hero, apologizing to Tikki for their earlier argument – but for now, she had a job to do, and she needed to focus.

Flipping her compact open revealed that Chat Noir was north of her location. Hopefully he was at the site of the akuma trying to take it down, so that they could work together and end the battle as soon as possible. She wanted a moment to sit down and sort through her thoughts.

She swung gracefully through the streets in the direction her yo-yo had pinpointed Chat Noir.

When she got there, it wasn’t the controlled battle scene she had hoped for, but rather complete chaos. The akuma itself was smashing up the mayor’s hotel, punching through one window at a time and eviscerating each room as much as possible. His mind-controlled minions fanned out over the area, breaking everything they could reach.

Nearby, a ruffled Chat Noir crouched on a rooftop behind a big sign, looking like he was just trying to make himself small and avoid the akuma’s notice.

Ladybug swung in next to her partner, watching as he turned to her, relief and adoration blooming across his face as he took in the sight of his regular partner. “Bugaboo! You finally came!” He flashed a flirty smile, “The sound of you landing next to me is always mew-sic to my ears,” wiggling his kitty ears for emphasis.

Exasperated, she crouched next to him, looking out to survey the villain for weaknesses or any objects that could be housing the butterfly. “What’s the deal with this villain?” she asked her partner.

To her annoyance, Chat just shrugged.

“Then what have you been _doing_ since he started rampaging?”

Chat’s cat ears twitched back, laying close to his skull. “I got _attacked_ by a fake ladybug akuma when I was coming in to try to fight this guy! And then she disappears to who-knows-where after kidnapping a friend of mine, I’m left alone with The Destructinator 9000!”

Ladybug just huffed. “I could understand being reluctant to fight on your own, Chat, but we’re heroes. You should have tried to stall him or prevent some of his victims. Now that he’s built up such a large group, it’ll be harder to get to his object.”

Chat just shrugged, before slinging an arm of her shoulders. “You and me, Bug, we got this. Let’s go with our usual: I use my devilishly good looks and stunning charisma to distract the akuma, then you sweep in to snatch the butterfly when he least expects it.”

He winks at her, then dashes off the top of the building toward the akuma, shouting for its attention. “Chat-!” she starts, affronted, before realizing that it was a lost cause. The akuma and all of his nearby minions were closing in on Chat, making it harder and harder for him to escape as the crush of enemies cut off his possible escape routed one by one.

Alarmed, Ladybug called for her lucky charm.

“A grappling hook?” she asked, staring down at the object in confusion.

Her eyes scanned the street quickly before the puzzle started to make sense.

At that moment, she turned her head just in time to witness Chat get hit by one of the akuma’s tosses, his eyes going blank and white as he was turned into just another mindless acolyte of the akuma.

She was so fed up with this; he hadn’t even needed to go out into the fray yet, since the akuma hadn’t spotted them, and would be much more usefull helping with her plan than using the cat miraculous to destroy as much of the area as possible.

He was usually a good friend, he knew how to make situations seem lighter, and his heart was in the right place, but sometimes working with Chat Noir was more detrimental to her abilities as a hero than helpful. Once he matured a little bit and learned how to stop flirting and focus on the mission, he could really be a great partner – but for now, he was just reminding her why she wanted to get a third permanent miraculous holder in the first place. Having someone focused and dedicated on their side would make them much more formidable.

Sighing to herself, Ladybug got to work.

First she had to get as many of the brainwashed followers out of the way, which wasn’t too difficult. All of them wanted to chase her down and take her miraculous, but the akuma itself was much slower than its minions, so it wasn’t too difficult to lure then far enough away.

Next was shooting the grappling hook across the street, fairly close to the ground but not _too_ close. Once she wrapped the gun part around a nearby lightpost, she had a solid line set in place.

She stepped out so that the rope was between her and the akuma. Normally she would have a bit more fun with the dramatics – there was definitely a good quip in her somewhere, if she had the brainpower to think of it at the moment – but with her partner under Hawkmoth’s control and only two minutes left on her timer, she wasn’t really in the right headspace for “fun.”

When the akuma ran at her, his foot caught on the wire as planned, and a well-placed loop of yo-yo string around his shoulders pulled to make sure he crashed to the ground as hard as possible.

Just as Ladybug had suspected, the akuma was hiding in one of the bits of shattered pottery. Once most of his armor cracked under the force of his fall, a small black butterfly lifted over the disaster that the street had become. Ladybug shot her yo-yo out quickly to purify the butterfly, zipping as far away from the scene as possible as the reporters started to flood in.

Ladybug released her healing swarm of ladybugs, and then dropped into an alley a safe enough distance away just as the transformation released back over her.

Marinette stood there to catch her breath for a moment, feeling high-strung after flying solo through such a high-stakes situation.

When she looked back up, her kwami was frowning at her thoughtfully. Somehow Marinette had almost managed to forget their last argument, but as soon as she made eye contact with Tikki, apologies started spilling out of her: “Tikki I am _so _sorry for fighting with you, obviously you have more experience and I should have listened better, and anyway I shouldn’t have gotten angry enough to actually sever our bond-”

Tikki put one of her little paws up, floating gently in front of her. “No Marinette, you don’t need to apologize.” Her antannae drooped despondently. “I guess I haven’t payed enough attention recently. I hadn’t seen how much these fights drain you, and today – Chat noir dashing off like that… I had hoped he would be the perfect yin to your yang, but I can see that he still has a lot of growing to do to fit that role.”

“And Kagami makes you happy, Marinette. I don’t want you to let that slip by.”

Marinette found herself nodding along, because she _did_ work well with Kagami, and while Chat was a great friend, she saw herself working better as partners with Kagami right now. She was intense, but that made her great at what she did, because she focused and tried and faught without giving up. She could come off as a little cold, but Marinette had seen enough of her inner kindness to know that she was a great person, if a bit slower to open up than most.

And Kagami was loyal. She never fell for Lila’s lies like the rest of Marinette’s friends, and she had brought the ladybug miraculous back to Marinette without hesitation when she could have taken it to use for herself. Marinette knew what the rush of power felt like when using a miraculous. The fact that Kagami had turned her back on it so readily and without prompting for Marinette’s sake only raised her opinion of the other girl.

And even more than that, Kagami now knew Marinette was the one who could hand out thhe dragon, but instead of trying to use her new knowledge to wield Longg again, she seemed content to wait and trust Marinette’s judgment.

She was lost in thought for a long moment before her brain processed another possible meaning to Tikki’s words.

“Kagami makes me happy as a _friend_,” she emphasized to her kwami, face heating hup despite her best efforts.

Tikki just smiled innocently up at her.

“What! I have a crush on Adrien!”

Tikki let out a small giggle that sounded like chiming bells, smiling at her chosen. “I won’t tell you how to feel, Marinette. But your Adrien-wall has been taken down piece by piece, and you talk about Kagami a _lot_ more than would be expected of someone who has hung out with her only infrequently.” Cheeky smile widening, Tikki added, “and that kiss on the cheek seemed a bit more than friendly to me, judging by how much you two were blushing after.”

Sobering slightly, Tikki looked at her chosen with wide blue eyes. “Just think about it, Marinette. Don’t let something good pass you by just because you’re too afraid to act.”

Marinette’s head spun with this new possibility. Though she had never really thought about it consciously before, she could see in retrospect that some part of her was always drawn to Kagami. There were as many pictures of her on Marinette’s wall now as there were from Adrien, and Marinette had been hanging out with Kagami whenever possible for a while now.

She blushed even more furiously, thinking back – right before the friendship game, she had been ranting to Tikki about how unfairly cute Kagami was.

Marinette wouldn’t decide on anything now. If she chose to pursue Kagami, she would never make her feel second-best: Marinette would only go after Kagami once she was sure that she could place the other girl first like she deserved.

Ad that may not be as hard as it once would have, she mused. After all, she had barely thought about Adrien the past couple of days except in passing, while she had thought of Kagami much more than anyone else.

Lost in the daze of her own thoughts, Marinette was startled by the chime of her phone.

K: I am very sorry not to be at the bakery when you get back, but after the attack was so close by, Mother wants me home as soon as possible.

K: I look forward to seeing you soon, though; this weekend was very fun and I would appreciate your company again, if you wanted to hang out again soon

Marinette smiled dopily down at her phone, thinking of the little disgruntled wrinkle that would formed between Kagami’s brows as she wrote those words.

M: No worries! See you soon :) <3

Her face was red after sending the text, but something about it just felt right. The only upside of not seeing Kagami was that it would give her a few days to really think over everything that had happened, and be certain of her own choice.

By the next time she saw Kagami, Marinette promised herself, she would make a decision; whether to stubbornly hold onto the old crush on Adrien (that had been fading in the face of his oblivious friendliness and inaction with Lila, she now realized) or… to move onto someone that made her really, really happy just to be around for the first time in a while.

This choice had sneaked up on her, but now that she was really seeing it for the first time, Marinette couldn’t help but smile to herself on the way home.

* * *

From her hiding spot, Tikki smiled to herself as well. Even when things didn’t go as planned, these things had a way of working themselves out. Though some part of her was sad for Adrien because Chat was further than ever from wooing his ladybug, most of her was excited to see Marinette just unabashedly _happy_ again after all the drama at school. Tikki needed to remember that Marinette was young and just starting to find herself; learning what (and who) made her happy was more important right now that sticking to Tikki’s own idealized version of reality.

She nibbled on the bits of cookie in Marinette’s pocket, just happy to watch this all play out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a feeling tomorrow's chapter will probably be the thickest of the bunch, but honestly I haven't even started writing it yet so guess we'll all have to figure out together tomorrow :-P


	5. Fencing

Kagami needed to focus.

It was Thursday now, and she was at fencing practice… but just like with every day earlier in the week, she felt her own thoughts drawn back to Sunday. Waking up warm and content, discovering Marinette’s secret, and getting the chance to protect Marinette the way Marinette had so often protected her. The kiss on the cheek.

She knows Marinette said that they were still friends, and her continued texting with the girl assured her that they would not lose contact. However, Kagami still found herself unreasonably antsy to see Marinette in person.

It was strange; she had spent nearly her entire life without friends, and even her friendship with Adrien fit into her schedule nicely.

But friendship with Marinette did not conform to the nice little boxes Kagami kept trying to put it into. She couldn’t help but think of Marinette throughout the day, even when there were other topics she could be focusing on. When she was doing something where Marinette might be present, Kagami found herself straightening her spine just a little bit more, and putting even more effort into activities she had previously thought herself to be giving full effort to.

When Kagami had been practicing swordfighting under Mother’s direction on Tuesday, in the park directly adjacent to Marinette’s home, she put so much of herself into her work that Mother had offered her rare praise: “Excellent work, Kagami, much better than usual.”

Then, after a pause, “I wonder if your change in attitude is at all related to your sleepover this weekend? After all, during every break, you keep twitching toward that bakery...”

Concerned that her mother would get the wrong idea and label Marinette a distraction, Kagami panicked slightly and blurted, “No! Just… taking my fencing more seriously.”

At that, her mother had smiled slightly. “I was young once, too, you know. And if that girl convinces you to put more effort into your training, I very much approve.”

Kagami’s face had reddened, and she had returned to training without being able to think of a response.

And today, training with D’Argencourt’s other students in the gym attached to College François Dupont, Kagami felt the same inexplicable urge to impress. She knew that Marinette had just gotten out of class and may come into the gym at any time, and somehow that thought was a much more powerful motivator in convincing Kagami to preform her best than Mother’s presence as a spectator or Adrien smiling at her from next to the piste.

Reluctantly, she tore her eyes away from the main school to walk over to where her fencing partner was waiting for her.

Adrien’s smile got even wider. “It’s good to see you again, Kagami.” He looked at her face a bit more closely, then added, “You seem happier than usual this week – any particular reason?”

“I had the chance to have a sleepover with Marinette this weekend. Her company was very enjoyable.”

At this, Adrien’s smile took on a boyish lopsidedness, and his eyes sparked. “Yeah, Marinette’s really great, isn’t she?” Even though Kagami had discussed crushes with him before, and knew he claimed a crush on a coworker rather than his cute classmate, some part of her bristled at him talking about Marinette that way.

Was she jealous that he was showing attention to another girl? It was strange, because hearing about his (presumably attractive model) coworker had only made him seem like a more obvious target of Kagami’s affections, because she would not lose to some unknown airhead. It had not caused her any personal distress to hear him gush about how “pretty” and “strong” and “brave” this unknown girl was.

But somehow, his much less directly romantic remark about Marinette made Kagami want to shred him with her foil today. She didn’t know where this illogical feeling was coming from, and tried not to display any outward annoyance over his characteristically more-than-friendly way of talking about Marinette.

By the slightly alarmed look on his face, something about Kagami’s expression was betraying her actual feelings on the matter. Adrien seemed to be sweating a little as he excused himself to go finish preparing for their practice match. Kagami felt a deep sense of satisfaction about how quickly he retreated.

She took another breath to center herself, and added this latest episode to the list of how Marinette’s friendship, Marinette’s presence, Marinette in general seemed to matter more to her than was usual between friends. Kagami did not know what to make of her own actions, and set them aside to examine more rationally later.

Kagami turned just as the doors to the gym opened, and managed to catch the sight of Marinette slipping in to watch practice with the other spectators. When their eyes met, Marinette smiled at her and Kagami felt herself warm under the attention.

Marinette took her seat, one row back from Kagami’s mother, and set her bag down as she leaned forward to get a good view.

Kagami reluctantly drew her eyes away at D’Argencourt’s shout: “Alright, everyone, to your positions! Same partners as last time!”

She slipped her mask down over her face and stepped toward Adrien, determined to do her absolute best in this practice and prove her skill to the small audience. Adrien nervously shuffled his feet as she approached, as though he could read her intent.

_Good,_ she thought, steel-sharp smirk settling into place. _Let him try to stop me._

* * *

“That’s the end for today, everyone,” D’Argencourt announced after their regular two hour session. Adrien jumped on that immediately, taking the chance to limp away from her. While he was in no way seriously injured, there would definitely be a few good bruises for his makeup artists to figure out how to cover.

Kagami lifted her mask, looking over to the stands. She had spared a few glances throughout training, and though some part of her expected Marinette to get bored and do homework or leave, Marinette had always been leaned forward, enraptured. Now when she looked, she was startled by the sight of Marinette discussing something with Mother, face entirely red.

Kagami hoped that her mother had not said anything too bad, but judging by the level of heat in Marinette’s cheeks, Mother had either made Marinette embarassed or ashamed; perhaps both.

However, when Marinette looked over to see Kagami staring at her, she only grinned dopily and waved enthusiasticly. Kagami tentatively raised her hand back, unsure of how to act. She turned back to the locker rooms to get a fast rinse off and a change back into regular clothes.

When she came back out in fifteen minutes, both Marinette and her mother were still there talking. She found herself overtaken by the twin powers of curiosity and concern, and made her way over to the two.

As she arrived, whatever conversation the two had been having had petered out. Marinette turned to Kagami and said, “You were amazing, Kagami! I’ve never seen someone move so fast with a sword!”

Kagami couldn’t help but preen a bit under the praise. She held Marinette’s opinion in high esteem, not only as a superhero experienced with fighting but also as someone very close to her that she had really hoped to impress.

“Yes, your fencing was commendable,” her mother added. “With some more practice to refine your form, I could see you going very far indeed.” That was very high praise from Mother, who had complimented her fencing more in this past week than she did in a regular month. Kagami was pleased by her praise, though it did not elicit quite the same powerful reaction that Marinette’s did.

“Thank you. I am ready to go, Mother.” Kagami was prepared for their usual post-practice ritual, where Mother would inform her of all the mistakes she had made while fighting, and Kagami would absorb as much of the feedback as possible in an attempt to do better next time.

However, to Kagami’s shock, Mother just shook her head. “I have some business I need to attend to, and you have nothing scheduled for the next hour.”

If Kagami did not know any better, she would describe the expression spreading across her mother’s face as sly. “Perhaps Miss Marinette could help you pass that hour? I had a very interesting conversation with her.”

Marinette’s face went an interesting red again, but given that she was still smiling, Kagami did not feel too upset at the change.

“Thank you, Mother,” she responded. This was so far out of the usual – having her mother explicitly give her free time _and_ advise her to spend it with a peer – but she did her best to take the change in stride. “Marinette and I will stay together for the next hour, and then I can take the car to my next lesson.”

Her mother nodded and left the gym.

Once she had gotten far enough away from both of them, Marinette practically vibrated with excitement. Marinette took both of Kagami’s hands in her own, and gave them a gentle squeeze. “This is great! Would you like to come back to the bakery for your break?”

Kagami did not know how to resist Marinette’s starry expression (not that she was particularly trying), so they set off together on the one-block journey back to the bakery.

After a moment of quiet between them, Kagami asked, “What were you discussing with Mother? She has never intentionally pushed me toward spending time with friends before.”

Marinette’s face split into a even wider grin. Her cheeks must hurt under the strain of her own joy. “I promise I’ll tell you soon, Kagami,” she said, “but I want to be sure that I get it right first.”

Kagami did not know quite how to interpret that statement, but was willing to let it slide for now. Of course she was curious, but she would not disrespect her friend by pushing herself into information that she was not welcome to.

They reached the bakery, and Kagami enjoyed the small “ding” of the bell and the warm waft of vanilla-scented air that greeted them.

“Welcome!” Mme Cheng greeted before realizing who was at the door. “Do you girls need any snack before heading upstairs?”

Marinette turned to her for direction, and after a moment of silence, Kagami asked for a chocolate croissant. Marinette followed suit, and both girls took their treats upstairs to enjoy together.

Kagami was generally very happy with her diet, as eating well helped her to feel strong and lithe, but she had to admit that there was some unexplainable joy to sitting and sharing a Dupain-Cheng treat with Marinette.

The girls sat together in Marinette’s room, just talking and laughing and enjoying each other’s company until Kagami’s phone dinged with a notification alerting her that the car was downstairs waiting. She was shocked; it was unlike her to lose track of time so completely, but the hour had flown by in Marinette’s presence.

She reluctantly said goodbye to Marinette, and received a warm hug before going. Marinette still had given no clue as to her conversation with Mother, and her eyes twinkled with the secret, but Kagami found she did not mind; she would allow Marinette all the secrets she wanted if it kept making her glow like that.

She stepped out back into the cooler air outside and slipped into her car. She made eye contact with a waving Marinette one last time before leaving the bakery. A smile slipped its way onto Kagami’s face, growing even wider at the knowledge that she might see Marinette again tomorrow, since her fencing practice would let out before their school started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't turn out quite as long as I expected (since some scenes I planned on being in this chapter got cut or shuffled elsewhere), but I'm still pretty happy with it!
> 
> Not sure how the next one ("First Date / First Kiss") will go though - I've been alternating perspectives between chapters, which would make the next chapter a Marinette-centric chapter, but I think it might be more interesting if explored from Kagami's point of view. Not sure how I'll resolve this, but I guess we'll see when I get there!


	6. First Kiss/First Date

Marinette exhaled, trying to get her nerves under control. She wanted so badly for everything about today to be perfect. Last night, she went to sleep the earliest she has since the schoolyear started, so that she would wake up early; she already ate a full breakfast and brushed her teeth twice; she had on one of her current favotire outfits of a pink buttoned blouse tucked into a dark embroidered skirt.

And, most importantly, the bouquet of flowers Marinette had agonized over choosing. Red and orange, for her admiration of Kagami’s fierce, bold personality. The vivid roses at the base were framed with a splash of small pink blossoms, a touch that perfectly matched the pink blush that had touched Marinette’s face all morning.

Altogether, the bouquet was quite unconventional, but so was Kagami. Marinette didn’t _want_ her to be normal, to act like everyone else, to be another Adrien. When Marinette had taken the time to really think through her feelings, she realized something she should have known all along; she just really, really likes Kagami for _herself_.

After that realization,  she came across the harder question: how to actually ask Kagami on a date.

When he had been chasing Adrien, she had been a nervous wreck around him all the time, stumbling over her words and flailing gracelessly. With Kagami, something was different – maybe it was the fact that Marinette crually got to befriend her before developing a crush, rather than just diving in head-first, but even with her newly discovered feelings, she was always able to feel comfortable around the other girl.

Marinette had liked Adrien, but some part of her had always wanted to keep herself away from him, so she didn’t make a fool of herself in front of her crush. With Kagami, it was the opposite. Every part of Marinette was just pulling herself closer to Kagami. She would gladly seem foolish if it meant she got Kagami to laugh, to smile that secretive smile of hers.

Although she was determined to try, Marinette couldn’t decide how to go about confessing until yesterday. She had thought that a small, private gesture would be best, just something that Kagami could brush off as a joke if she wasn’t interested in Marinette like that.

Marinette had shown up to Kagami’s fencing practice still unsure.

When she sat there in the audience, she had not been expecting to come up with the answer; however, it seemed that Mme. Tsurugi was a lot like her daughter: direct, and with little patience for dancing around the issue at hand.

Marinette’s face warmed with embarrassment at the memory, how Mme. Tsurugi had so effortlessly called her out on her crush. She would say she regretted being so obvious, especially since Marinette had thought Mme. Tsurugi would forbid her interest in her daughter, but…

That’s not what happened at  _all._

Rather than trying to get Marinette to stay away, Mme. Trsurugi confessed that she thought Marinette was  _good_ for her daughter. Apparently having a friend, a confidante, a support, someone worth fighting for only drove Kagami to be better.

And Mme. Tsurugi had given Marinette a blessing to pursue her daughter, ending with two pieces of advice: Kagami had always wanted someone to be unafraid to choose  _her_ in front of others, and that hesitating was only hurting both of them more than it was helping.

In retrospect, Marinette supposed this advice does make sense. She was not blind to how others treated Kagami. To her shame, she, too, had once referred to Kagami as the “Ice Queen.” Even Adrien, Kagami’s first friend, seemed to put everyone else in his life before her, making little to no effort to interact with her at times not scheduled by their families.

She supposed that in the face of all of that, having someone willing to choose you in front of so many peers who had always brushed you aside  _would_ be preferable. Not only would it show Kagami that Marinette adored her, but also that she was very happy to say that in front of anyone, even those who would judge her for her choice.

And, Marinette supposed, fidgeting with the flowers to get them just right, even if Kagami didn’t feel the same way and turned her down, having someone willing to give her flowers would surely be a positive boost to other’s opinions of her. A true Ice Queen wouldn’t draw admirers, so maybe they’d see that Kagami was so much  _more_ than that.

Finally satisfied with the arrangement, Marinette carefully picked it up, stepping downstairs holding the flowers. There were fifteen minutes until Kagami’s fencing practice let out this morning; enough time to take her time walking there, making sure she didn’t injure the flowers or rush her confession.

When she made it into the back of the bakery, her parents turned to look at her. Her maman was a bit dewy-eyed at seeing her daughter, and her papa’s face split into one of the widest grins she had ever seen.

“ There’s my little girl,” her father said. “All grown up and ready to take on the world.”

Marinette’s blush deepened under her parent’s attention. Her maman brought over a small paper bakery bag, the smell of fresh-baked treats already wafting out. It was warm in Marinette’s hand.

Marinettes mother pressed a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “A perfect comlement to the flowers, my dear. And Marinette?” “Yes?” Her mother smiled. “Good luck.”

With that last comment, Marinette nodded and left the bakery, allowing her parents to return back to work. She took a deep breath of the brisk air, carefully lutching both the treats and the flowers close to herself as she crossed the street and came up the the school doors.

Three minutes until fencing practice let out for the morning, and Kagami would almost certainly follow her usual routine of passing through the main courtyard to get back to her car and off.

Marinette stepped into the courtyard,  squaring her shoulders. Kagami doesn’t hesitate, and neither would she.

However, in all of her planning for this morning, there was a critical detail she had overlooked: her friends would see her with the flowers before she had the chance to give them to Kagami. Marinette hadn’t even registered this as a potential problem until she heard the squeal from off to one side, and then saw the crush of girls run up to meet her, led by a very overly-enthusiastic Rose.

“Ohhhh, guys, it’s finally happening,” Rose shouted, voice two octaves above the range of a regular human, “she’s finally confessing to Adrien!”

Marinette had  _completely forgotten_ that people thought she still had a crush on Adrien. Her friends were just… overenthusiastic, in that they fought so hard for “S.S. Adrienette” despite any outside signals to stop. When Marinette first began to move on, way back when Adrien first told her of his interest in Kagami rather than herself during the disasterous ice-rink double date, she had accepted his choice and been willing to begin the process of moving on, but the other girls saw that as giving up.

To them, she and Adrien seemed to be the only acceptable pairing. She appreciated them wanting her to be happy, but their overzealous involvement in her love life could often be detrimental rather than helpful. She had never brought up her burgeoning crush on Kagami, because she knew most of them would see her moving on as giving up and only try harder to push her and Adrien together.

It had worked out nicely up until that point, because nobody had tried to push her into confessing for a while. But now, flowers in hand for Kagami, she regretted that choice for the first time, because Marinette did  _not_ want them pushing her at Adrien when she was trying to confess to someone else.

“Well, uh – actually – it’s not about-”

“Dont worry girl,” Alya cut her off, giving her usual exasperated look whenever Marinette used to fumble when it came to the topic of Adrien. Marinette wished she could see that that wasn’t what this was about, but she found herself unable to speak as they continued to flutter around her. “We’ll make sure nothing goes wrong today!”

“The perfect confession!” Mylène added, accpeting a high five from Rose for her statement.

From the back of the group, Lila glared with focused vitriol at Marinette, unable to sabotage the confession in front of a group so deditated to making it happen, but still very obviously against the idea of Adrien receiving flowers from Marinette this morning.

_Huh,_ Marinette thought,  _this might be the one moment we ever agree on anything._

Behind her, she could hear a door opening, the fencing students leaving the gym, some to go home and some to go to class. Most looked tired still, with freshly-toweled hair after their short showers and the squints of students who were thinking only of their soft bed after a hard early-morning practice.

Adrien walked out into the courtyard, and her friend’s excited whispers only grew in volume seeing him.

However, Marinette only had eyes for the girl that exited behind him: gorgeous dark hair, brown eyes, a small smattering of freckles over her nose -  how could Marinette look at anyone else right now?

Kagami saw Marinette, seeming ready to wave a friendly greeting across the courtyard before her eyes caught on the fiery array of colors Marinette clutched to her chest. A small wrinkle formed between her brow, before her eyes widened.

Marinette stepped that way, drawn without conscious thought. She could do this, she  _would_ do this. She was ready to confess to Kagami, for better or for worse.

Her friends were chattering behind her, and even the other students scattered throughout the courtyard were watching, rapt. Marinette’s crush on Adrien had been well know thanks to her obvious ( _so_ obvious, if he hadn’t been so oblivious) nervousness and persistent blush whenever she used to talk to him. Now her face radiated a serene sense of joy, which only had the students wondering even more.

“She’s about to confess to Adrien!” some fangirl shouted from across the way. If Marinette had been watching his face, she would have seen the rapid fire switch from shock, to realization, to a dopey smile so large that he looked almost manic in his glee. If she had been paying attention at all, she would have seen how he stepped forward with his chest puffed out, excited to receive another love confession to add to his long list of girls that liked Adrien Agreste.

But she wasn’t looking at him, so instead she saw the way Kagami’s attention flashed at the fangirl’s comment. After, Kagami’s face carefully locked, eyes going hard, jaw muscle tense, and eyebrows set in place. It was the expression she made when trying to hide her real feelings, when channeling the “Ice Queen” that felt nothing at all.

Seeing Kagami’s distress only made Marinette step up her pace.

When she stepped right around Adrien, a shocked hush fell over the courtyard. Adrien blinked after her, startled, and her friends’ jaws dropped open.

To Marinette, none of this mattered. She was only looking at Kagami.

“Here,” she said, face turning an interesting scarlet. “It’s – these are for you.”

Kagami took the flowers and bag tentatively, as though she thought Marinette would try to snatch them away at any moment. She looked down into the bouquet, eyes wide. The mix of warm colors complemented her perfectly, highlighting the heat touching her cheeks and the warmth in her eyes.

Kagami stared down at the flowers for a long moment, and Marinette felt her nerves returning. This was obviously a mistake, Kagami only thought of her as a friend – and now it would be awkward, and then she would get Married to Adrien and never speak to Marinette again and Marinette would be alone and--

Her thought process was cut off as Kagami grabbed a handful of Marinette’s pink shirt and hauled her into a kiss. It was clear that Kagami didn’t have any experience, because their noses clased and their teeth clicked, until Marinette turned her head just slightly, pressing a chaste kiss to her mouth before pulling away.

Around them the courtyard erupted into conversations, smattered with a few students cheering for the two. However, Kagami and Marinette were lost in their own world, nearly deaf to those around them.

Although Marinette had been the one to bring the gifts to Kagami, and had a long confession planned out, she found herself struck entirely speechless.

Conversely, Kagami seemed newly revived. She smiled dopily, terrifying the students around her who had never seen her face morph into anything that could be described as even vaguely amused before.

Kagami moved the bag of baked goods over to the hand holding the flowers, and used her newly free hand to gently grab Marinette’s. “I would like to date you. You are amenable, yes?”

Marinette just nodded dumbly.

However, that seemed to be enough fro Kagami, who gave Marinette’s hand one last squeeze before releasing it. “Good, I will text you. I look forward to it.”

She stepped as though ready to pass Marinette, but then paused an turned back. Her expression was open, unguarded, vulnerable, and Marinette somehow found herself even more enchanted at the sight. “This was perfect, Marinette. Thank you.”

With that last comment, Kagami turned to walk to her car.

Marinette was still stuck in place when her classmates began to come up to her.

Nino seemed almost alarmed when he said, “I’ve never seen you smile that wide before, dude.”

Marinette reached her fingertips up to her mouth, only to realize that, yes, her face was stuck in a big grin. She was just so  _happy_ , there was no way she’d be able to pull off anything resembling “normal” for a long time.

A few of her other classmates congratulated her, but most of them seemed too shocked to do more than watch her warily, as though she would reveal herself to be an akumatized fake at any moment. Instead, all she did was sigh, eyes staring dreamily at where Kagami had left.

One of the last to come up was Adrien. He had a small kind smile on his face, the same smile that made Marinette fall in love with him once upon a time. Now, though, she was just glad that her friend was happy (and in this case, happy for her).

“Congratulations, Marinette. You and Kagami are both smart, brave, and talented – I’m sure you’ll make an unstoppable pair.” He laughed lightly, “for a moment, I thought the flowers were for me, and I was very flattered… but I can see how good Kagami is for you, so I’m glad you made a choice that would make you happy, instead.”

“Thanks, Adrien,” Marinette said, turning her smile towards him. “You’re a really good friend.”

Marinette went to class, even though she knew she wouldn’t focus for the entire day. Though no actual learning would get done, she could forsee plenty of notebook pages full of various hearts being made today.

As she entered the room, she looked down and caught the eye of the little god peering out of her purse. Tikki smiled at her, and Marinette smiled back. From somewhere next to Tikki, her phone buzzed.

K: I am free this afternoon, for our fist date. <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to the end - tomorrow is "meet the families," Sunday is the free day, and then this fic will be over!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read this far and left kudos and comments - your support has really motivated me to stick with this week all the way through, and I've had a lot of fun sharing my writing.


	7. Meet the Family

Marinette’s hands twitched down to smooth her shirt again, even though she had done so too many times already. She had brushed her teeth three times, undid and redid her signature ponytails twice, and changed outfits four times. Needless to say, she was slightly nervous about her date.

Above her, Tikki giggled, smiling down at her silly chosen. “Don’t worry Marinette, Kagami already likes you a lot. Tonight will go great!”

“I know Tikki, I just – I want everything to go perfectly!” Marinette checked her reflection one last time before starting for the stairs. “I’m going to go wait downstairs… I want to be there when she arrives!”

Tikki just rolled her eyes at her chosen’s antics, before diving into her hiding place on the inside lining of Marinette’s jacket.

Marinette stepped downstairs, only to see the bakery surprisingly empty except for her parents sitting together chatting at one of the tables. “Maman? Papa? Where are the customers?”

“We closed the shop a little early, Marinette,” her maman said with a secretive smile, “since it’s your first real date. We have to meet your new girlfriend before you two go!”

Marinette had almost entirely forgotten that her parents knew about her asking Kagami out today. Of course they had been the ones to help her prepare part of her confession gift, but she had still been stuck in such a happy daze when she got home from school that she just sighed longingly and nodded to her parents questions about how it went without even consciously registering them.

Marinette’s face blushed red at her parent’s focused attention. “She’s not – I mean not yet – we’re not girlfriends, actually… wait, did you say meet her? You’ve already met Kagami, she was over just this last weekend?”

Her papa laughed. “Of course we’ve met her, but that was before we knew she’s be dating our little girl. We have to re-meet her now that we know she’ll be part of the family!” His face dropped more serious for a moment. “And I have to let her know that if she ever plays with my precious daughter’s heart, no amount of sword training will save her.”

“Papa!”

At Marinette’s affronted shout, the humor returned to his face. “I’d say ‘just kidding,’ Nettie, but we both know I’m not.”

Sabine put her hand on her husband’s arm, and did her best to shoot him a warning glare that was weakened by the smile trying to inch it’s way onto her mouth. She turned to Marinette. “He’s right, sweetie, meeting a date is a bit different than just meeting a friend. We’re excited to talk to her for a few minutes before you two head off.”

As though summoned, a car pulled up in front of the bakery. Marinette turned just in time to see Kagami stepping out, and felt the air get stuck in her chest. Kagami was wearing black pants with a deep red button up, with a dark coat over top. She was gorgeous, and Marinette found herself frozen in place, unable to look away as Kagami straightened up and head for the bakery.

* * *

Kagami stepped through the door and made eye contact with Marinette. Both just stared for a moment, faces pink, before Marinette’s parents stood up.

“Welcome, Kagami,” Mme. Cheng said, clearly trying to hide the amusement and fondness in her voice. “We’re glad to have the chance to officially re-meet you, as the girl our daughter is dating rather than just a friend this time.”

Kagami snapped out of her trance, reluctantly turning away to focus on Mme. Cheng instead of Marinette. “Thank you for welcoming me in, Madame Cheng. I am honored to have the chance to date your daughter.”

Marinette’s papa drew himself up even further, until her was at his full height, broad shoulder creating an impressive sihouette.

“Now you take care of my little girl, okay? I will not take kindly to  _anyone_ meddling with her heart.”

Kagami supposed that this might have been somewhat unnerving, if she hadn’t known that Marinette was Ladybug. As it was, she knew Marinette could destroy anyone who crossed her without any help, though she was almost  _too_ nice in withholding herself from doing so. Mostly, Kagami was just glad to see someone else willing to stand up for Marinette, especially when there were terrible people in this world like Lila who would see Marinette’s kindness as a weakness to exploit rather than a precious treasure.

“Yes, sir,” she replied dutifully.

“Then it’s a pleasure to see you, Kagami!” He reached out a hand, and Kagami shook it. “I’m always happy to see my potential-future-daughter-in-law.”

“Papa!” Marinette shouted, face completely red.

Kagami just laughed, amused at the Dupain-Chengs’ antics and more than a little overwhelmed by their kindness in making her feel so welcome in their home.

Marinette stepped forward and linked their arms together. “We’ll be going now. Love you!”

“Love you too!” Marinette’s parents chorused, watching them exit the bakery arm-in-arm.

Kagami had never seen such raw kindness. While she had a working relationship with her mother, they were not quite close in the same way. Her mother cared, but never showed it as openly and often as Marinette’s parents seemed to. Kagami could not find it in herself to be jealous, though – Marinette deserved all the love in the world.

She turned toward Marinette. “I was thinking we could walk and find An dré’s ice cream tonight? I know you said his ice cream has some magical power for couples, though I will admit to doubting this claim myself.”

Marinette looked over with sparkling eyes. “Yes!” She seemed to realize that her volume had been a little too much, judging by the startled turn of nearby  pedestrians , so she flushed a bit further and quieted down. Kagami found it unfairly endearing. “I didn’t really believe in it either, but when André was akumatized into Glaciator – do you remember that fight?”

Kagami nodded, hoping Marinette would take it as a vague memory of the event itself and not realize that she had gone back and pored over every last Ladybug clip in the past few days.

“Well, after he was akumatized, I realized that I was probably wrong about his ice-cream. Couples that get ice cream there really do seem to stay together. And, even if it’s not true… it can’t hurt to try, right?”

Marinette’s expression was so open, so earnest, that Kagami felt herself melt just a little bit further. Her first real friend that was around because she  _wanted_ to be and not because of any parental pressure, an d her first date – she didn’t know what she had done to deserve such luck, but she promised to give everything of herself to Marinette in return.

Kagami started them off on the route she had looked up in the car. She and Marinette chatted pleasantly all the way there. Even though the walk was a respectable distance away, Kagami felt as though almost no time at all had passed when they arrived at the ice cream cart.

André was humming to himself, stirring a tub of ice cream when he noticed them approach.

“ Ah Marinette! It’s good to see you again my dear. And a special someone came with you – try André’s Sweetheart Ice Cream, and your love will stay true.” He quickly scooped together a mix for them; orange and blackberry, two fruity flavors for them to share. André winked conspiratorally as he passed it over. “You expected a different pairing at the start, I’m sure, but André’s glad to see you have doubts no more!”

Kagami was unimpressed with the rhyming, but as she and Marinette sat on a bench to take a taste of the treat, she had to give credit where credit was due; this ice cream really _ did_ taste magical. She rarely let herself be caught up in fanciful dreams, but as she looked at a giggling Marinette who had a dab of orange on the tip of her nose, she couldn’t help but hope the stories about André’s ice cream were true.

Her heart felt too big for her chest as she smiled at Marinette. Kagami wanted to stay with Marinette for a very, very long time.

As she heard the screaming start somewhere off behind her, she added one more wish to her list: that Hawkmoth would get his just desserts very, very soon.

She and Marinette locked eyes over the ice cream, both reluctant to cut their perfect evening short but also both aware of what Marinette had to do. “Go,” Kagami said, and Marinette went.

She wished she could protect Marinette, could help her, could make sure that an akuma never hurt her again. But Kagami knew that not only was Marinette fully capable of protecting herself, as it was Kagami would be more of a  hindrance than a help without any good way to fight the akuma. She ran off to hide nearby, even though every illogical part of herself was pushing to go back and stand at Marinette’s side,  despite her complete lack of magical protection.

But even more than that what stopped Kagami from rushing over was her great respect for Marinette. If she allowed this secret to cause her to run into every battle, it would be an insult to Marinette’s skill and her faith in Ladybug. No, she would stay out of the way.

She heard a distant crash. Keeping herself from running immediately to Marinette’s aid was one of the most difficult feats of self-control she had ever performed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this chapter really did not want to be written
> 
> Anyway - tomorrow is the last day, so it'll be the final chapter of the story! I bet most of you can probably guess where it's going...


	8. Free day

Marinette dashed off, ducking into a hidden alley away from any potential prying eyes. She was ready to _absolutely destroy_ this akuma for interrupting her date with Kagami; the entire day had been absolutely perfect before Hawkmoth just had to swoop in and ruin it.

She had a moment of thankfulness, too, that Kagami already knew her secret. She had never even considered before how much worse it would be ditching your date rather than just ditching a friend-hangout, and she would never want to make Kagami feel that Marinette didn’t care about her just because she disappeared without warning at the appearance of any akuma.

Still the whole situation was non-ideal.

Tikki zoomed out into the open the moment they were out of sight of pedestrians. “Tikki, spots on!” From the alley Marinette had disappeared into, Ladybug hopped up and out to stand on a nearby roof.

She had to hop a couple of blocks towards the sound of screams before the akuma itself came into view. The akuma was an old lady dressed in a shimmering cacophony of colors. While she didn’t seem to have any actual weapons on her, there were multiple large flowers with teeth at her back and call, and she seemed to be growing large vines from the ground in order to trap people in place.

Marinette considered finding a way to send Hawkmoth links to some basic online classes; he didn’t seem to have a good grasp on reality, least of all botany if the oddly warped off-color flower monsters were anything to go by.

Furthermore, she would definitely have to teach him a thing or two about fashion. Floral designs could be done really well, but that mash of colors was giving her a migraine.

Before she was able to figure out what the item could be, she heard the slight _thud_ next to her indicating that her partner had dropped by.

“A pleasure as always to see you, Milady,” he purred.

“Hi Chat,” she replied, still examining the akuma. “I think the akumatized object might be in the flower on her lapel; it’s the only full flower rather than just petals.”

He stepped closer and knelt, completely ignoring her remark about the akuma. She turned. “My Lady,” he said, bowing, holding out a vibrant red rose. “The flower may have been a little on-the-nose, but still, it would be a purr-leasure if mew would accompany me on a date this evening?”

Ladybug shifted, uncomfortable. Chat Noir was a good friend, but he didn’t seem to be able to understand that she had absolutely no romantic feelings for him. She had to turn him down, but every time it hurt to see him so dejected.

“Chat, I actually was… on a date. Before this akuma.”

He looked at her eyes wide and flower slipping out of his loosened grip.

Just them, Ladybug spotted a vine shooting directly for him – the villain must have noticed them chatting up on the rooftop. “Look out!” she cried, tumbling into him and pushing them both out of the way.

“Was it your crush? Mystery lover boy? I swear I can do better for you than someone who spent that long without noticing you.”

“Chat, is this really the time for this?” They both dodged another round of magic vines, only to see even more shooting at them from multiple directions. Ladybug swung her yo-yo to tie some together in order to prevent them moving, but soon the entire mass of vines gave up on trying to break free and began to move toward them in unison. Chat, similarly, was having very little luck: his baton could bat vines aside, but it did nothing to stop them. “But for the record, it’s a girl I became friends with a little while ago who I really like.”

“I just… you could have chosen _me._ When you moved on from Mystery Boy, I was always there waiting.” He sounded sad, and seemed to be trying to make himself small in the face of her rejection.

“Look, Chat,” she started, pausing to duck out of the reach of one of the monstrous flowers that had climbed closer. “You’re one of my very best friends. I trust you with my life, always. But I don’t have feelings for you, and I need you to respect that.” She did her best to put all of her steely determination into her voice, determined to have Chat Noir ge the message this time around even though it was hurting both of them.

He looked over her with big eyes, kitty ears drooping, before nodding once.

“Thank you for understanding, Chat,” Ladybug sighed. The vines were getting too close for comfort. “I think we need to get out of the way of this akuma and reconvene: we’re getting nowhere this way.”

Chat nodded again, and they bosh dashed off to the sound of the akuma howling in frustration behind them. Once they had lost the akuma and made it enough streets over, they paused to catch their breath and plan their next move.

“Maybe Cataclysm?”

“It would help, but against this many different moving parts, probably not enough to win. My Lucky Charm?”

“That could get us closer, but I think this villain is still too strong for the two of us to take down alone. I hate to say it milady, but I think we may need to call in backup. How about Rena? Carapace?”

Ladybug looked off to one side. “They’ve been… permanently retired. Civilian life stuff.”

Chat’s tail froze for a moment, before twitching back to life. “I’ll… trust your judgement, Ladybug. Who else can we call in?”

Ladybug bit her lip. “I was actually considering making Ryuuko a permanent hero.”

This time Chat’s entire body froze. “Permanent?” “Yes.” “So she wouldn’t have to give her miraculous back to you?” “No, not unless she couldn’t work well with us.” “But… I _like_ it being just the two of us against the world.”

“I’m sorry Chat, but we’ve just had too many close scrapes lately. Someday, if we keep up the way we are, Hawkmoth will get lucky and win. Having a permanent hero – one who can join the fight without me having to take a break and go find her – gives us much better chances of success.”

Chat still looked unhappy, ears pinned back to his skull and tail lashing. “Fine. You clearly are the one in charge here, anyway.” He turned to jump back toward the battle, before looking back one last time. “But, Ladybug – don’t forget that I have just as much experience as a superhero as you do. Just because _you_ think it’s a good idea doesn’t mean it actually is.”

She watched him go, torn. Ladybug took a long draw of air to center herself. This was the right choice. They need help – and they would _keep_ needing help. Kagami had shown herself to be nothing but trustworthy. Tikki, a god with millennia of experience, had given her the go-ahead. _She_ was the one chosen to be guardian.

She was sure of her choice, but some little part of her was still pulling to chase after Chat Noir, to explain herself better and assure him that of _course_ they were partners, the original duo, the balance.

But she knew that this wasn’t her fault, nor her battle. She was making the best choice for the team, and was fulfilling her duties as guardian of the miraculous; Chat was still hurt over her rejection, and wasn’t working with the full story.

She bounded off toward where she had left Kagami. It only took a couple minutes of search to find her crouched behind a small restaurant, well out of any potential path of the akuma.

Ladybug lowered herself in front of agami, causing the other girl to blink up at her in confusion. “The battle cannot be over yet! The akuma is still on the loose...”

Ladybug looked at the phone in Kagami’s hands, only to see that, yes, Kagami had been watching a livestream of the akuma. Some part of the tension she had been carrying with her since talking with Chat dissipated at the thought of Kagami watching out for her in her own way, even when she couldn’t actually be there.

Marinette switched open her yoo-yo, and reached a hand into the glowing sheen of power to pull out a small black box. “Kagami Tsurugi, this is the miraculous of the dragon, which you will use to help us take down the akuma.”

Kagami accepted it reverently, flipping it open and releasing Longg.

She looked up to flash Ladybug a crooked smile. “And let me guess, I return it to you once we’re done?”

“Actually, Chat Noir and I have been needing another permanent holder on our side for a long time now, since Hawkmoth seems to just keep getting stronger. So I was thinking, if you’re in – and if we fight well together, of course – you could… hold onto it?”

Kagami was satring at her with wide eyes, so she hastily hedged. “Not that you have to decide now, of course! And there’s no pressure to accept, if you don’t want to-”

“Ladybug,” Kagami said, cutting her off. “It would be an honor to fight by your side for as long as you’ll allow me. I swear I will do my best to protect you.”

Ladybug nodded, eyes misty for some reason she couldn’t name.

Kagami slipped on the necklance. “Longg, bring the storm.”

A flash, and Ryuuko stood facing Ladybug, adorned in red and black and gold that made Ladybug simultaneously want to fight by this girl’s side forever, and crush her to herself so that they could both stay safe and close without ever needing to worry about the other getting hurt.

Side by side, they leapt out of the alley, tracking back toward the action.

Both girls skidded to a stop on a nearby roof, where Chat Noir came bounding in at the sight of them. “You were right, Ladybug, the akuma is definitely in the flower – the akuma is _way_ too protective of it.” He turned his blank gaze off to Ladybug’s side. “And Ryuuko, nice to fight with you again.”

Chat seemed to process silently for a moment, before his eyes flew open wide. “Wait, Ladybug, is _she_ the girl…?”

Both Ladybug and Ryuuko had their faces turn different shades of pink. “Uh, haha,” Ladybug started, unsure of what to say, “wow! Look at that akuma! Gotta go!” She dashed off toward it before seeing Chat’s expression.

She heard Ryuuko say something to the same effect behind her, before bounding off into battle as well.

Both worked in sync, Ladybug tying together large bundles of vines that Ryuuko would then hack through in one fell swoop, crippling the akuma as her main weapons were neutralized.

Ladybug’s eyes caught Ryuuko’s just as they both made a leap for the weakened akuma’s object, and Marinette and Kagami had the same thought: _I love this girl._

They both smiled as Ryuuko tore the flower and Ladybug swung her yo-yo out to purify it. Even though there was still plenty of fight ahead of them – the akuma battles, facing Lila, finding Hawkmoth – with someone like Kagami at her side, Marinette was sure everything would turn out just fine.

She released her healing ladybugs over the city, and felt the stress that had been gnawing at her since she was left as the sole guardian finally, finally release. She had two partners at her side, a city behind her, and a girlfriend who supported her; what more could a superhero ask for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ===PLEASE READ BEFORE MOVING ON TO THE ENDINGS===
> 
> Although this fic was going to wrap up in a neat way, I had an idea for a sequel I might want to write in the (near) future.
> 
> For now, please consider Ending #1 the "official" ending, as it'll tie everything together into a happy ending. Ending #2 is the set-up for the possible sequel so it's not as satisfactory. (Also, it's much more salty, so if you're not into that type of fic please skip it!!!)
> 
> That being said, thank you so much to everyone who has read this far, and especially those of you who have left kudos and comments. You've really made this past week fun for me, and you're definitely part of the reason I can say that you'll be seeing a lot more writing from me sometime in the near future. Another big thank you TheKitsune, without whom I may never have started writing again; them putting on this week is really what pushed me into trying my hand at writing fiction for the first time in years.
> 
> Thank you so much, and enjoy the ending!


	9. ENDING #1

Chat looked back and forth between Ladybug and Ryuuko, brain working furiously. For Ladybug to call in a female holder right after telling him about the girl she was dating… it could always be a coincidence, but some part of him knew it wasn’t. “Wait, Ladybug, is  _she_ the girl…?”

He watched as both of them turned red (or redder than usual, given their color schemes). Both girls made hasty excuses and dashed off into battle without him. They worked together, wholly in sync, without a word needing to be exchanged between them.

Even though knowing he wasn’t Ladybug’s choice still stung a bit, he couldn’t  deny how perfectly in sync the two girls were. He felt himself soften, watching them take down the akuma together like they had been practicing together for months.

In the end, all he had ever really wanted was for his Lady to be happy. And, even though she didn’t find that happiness with him, it was clear that she had someone who brought her joy; now, he could just be the best friend to her possible, and do his best to support their new relationship.

He grinned as the wave of healing ladybugs swept the city. And, who knew? Maybe this just meant they could be even better friends now that he wouldn’t be flirting with her anymore. Having the friendship of such a brave, kind girl was one of the best gifts he could ask for, and nothing would ever change that.

* * *

The next day at school, Adrien arrived early to see Marinette and Kagami sitting together on a bench, fingers intertwined and shoulders leaned together as they whispered about something. Marinette’s face broke out in a pink flush at something Kagami had said and she giggled lightly, while Kagami flashed a proud smile at eliciting such a reaction.

He smiled, pleased to see that his friends had gotten their happy ending.

Adrien heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see Luka approaching. “Hey, Adrien, how’s it going?”

“Luka? What are you doing here?”

Luka held up a purple luchbox. “Jules forgot her lunch. I’m just the deliveryman.”

Adrien’s eyes widened as he remembered “Oh, shoot, I completely forgot my packed lunch, and I have a shoot right after school today. Nathalie is going to  _kill me_ .”

Luka laughed at his dramatics, and Adrien felt a flutter of warmth in his chest. “Well, maybe I could take you out to lunch instead?” Luka asked. Adrien found himself nodding and smiling, and when he turned to walk to class, he nearly rammed face-first into a pillar.

The last bit of sadness was slowly wasting away, disappearing like a puddle facing the summer sun. Perhaps it was time for him to make a happy ending of his own.


	10. ENDING #2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Currently not the official ending; tentative setup for a possible sequel.
> 
> Also not really a happy ending. You have been warned.
> 
> (((For a happy wrap-up to the week, STICK WITH ENDING 1.)))

Chat looked back and forth between Ladybug and Ryuuko, brain working furiously. For Ladybug to call in a female holder right after telling him about the girl she was dating… it could always be a coincidence, but some part of him knew it wasn’t. “Wait, Ladybug, is  _she_ the girl…?”

He watched as both of them turned red (or redder than usual, given their color schemes). Both girls made hasty excuses and dashed off into battle without him. They worked together, wholly in sync, without a word needing to be exchanged between them.

Chat scowled fighting the urge to leap at Ryuuko. That was  _his_ Lady.  _His_ partner.  _He_ was the one who had worked with her for so long, protected her, been by her side at every battle.  _He_ deserved the happy ending with her, not some random girl who hadn’t even known her that long.

He turned away, unwilling to look back as the loveliness of ladybugs washed over the city. He could still show her, show both of them. He was the one always meant to be at Ladybug’s side. They were yin and yang, soulmates, two halves of a whole; he just needed to prove it to her.

* * *

The next day at school, Adrien arrived early to see Marinette and Kagami sitting together on a bench, fingers intertwined and shoulders leaned together as they whispered about something. Marinette’s face broke out in a pink flush at something Kagami had said and she giggled lightly, while Kagami flashed a proud smile at eliciting such a reaction.

Adrien felt his lip curl as he turned away. Why did _everyone_ but him get their own perfect storybook ending? He was the one who kept sacrificing so much for his friends, and who had made all of the effort to keep peace with Lila when even Marinette seemed determined to stir up trouble. And yet  he was ignored, forgotten, pushed aside.

He couldn’t forget the sick churning in his chest when Marinette pushed past him to give flowers to  _Kagami_ . He had tried to be happy for them, he really had, but those flowers should have been for  _him._

Adrien was done with letting others take what was rightfully his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This story is based around Marigami week (hosted on tumblr @marigami-week), with each prompt being the name of its chapter.
> 
> This is my first story, so if the writing is kind of clunky, I'm blaming being an adult with pretty much zero experience that's just getting into writing for the first time. 
> 
> Thank you for all of the kudos and kind comments that have been left on this story; I really appreciate all of the support I've gotten!


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